In my experience living and working on land rights, I have identified eight land-related topics that need to be prioritized and urgently addressed in India. These must be addressed no only by government at both the national and especially the state level, but also by civil society, researchers, and donors.

The webinar on the Forest Rights and Governance in India took place on 30 January, 2018. The webinar discussed why has there been variation in the implementation of the Forest Rights Act and identified institutional bottlenecks to upscaling its implementation, as well as lessons learned from existing best practices.

The “Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security” are referred to as the “Voluntary Guidelines" or the VGGT in this newsletter.

The Asia Forest Network is dedicated to supporting the role of communities in protection and sustainable use of Asia's forests. AFN is comprised of a coalition of planners, policy makers, government foresters, scientists, researchers, and NGOs. Since its founding in 1987, AFN has become affiliated with over thirty institutions and 700 individuals from Asia, Europe, United States, Africa, South America, and Canada.

Established in 1908, the CIF-IFC is the oldest forest society in Canada! The Institute serves as the voice of forest practitioners representing foresters, forest technologists and technicians, ecologists, biologists, educators and many others with a professional interest in forestry.

The Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) was established as an autonomous research Centre in 1980. Appreciating its role in the promotion of research and training, the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, recognized it as a national institute in the year 1986 and included the Centre in its network of institutions.

Role:

Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia is the umbrella interest organization of natural and legal persons in the Republic of Slovenia engaged in agriculture, forestry and fishery. Its central task is to protect and represent their interests, to consult them and accelerate economical and environment friendly activities.

Ecosystem Conservation and Community Development Initiative (ECCDI) is a non-political, non-profit and non-governmental organization initiated in November 2006 by senior ex-government officials with expertise in environment, ecosystem management, forestry, wildlife, agriculture, livestock and community development.

Fern (also Stichting Fern) is a Dutch foundation created in 1995. It is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) set up to keep track of the European Union's involvement in forests and to coordinate NGO activities at the European level. Through its work, Fern aims to increase the political and economic opportunities for people to create a more balanced society in which human rights are fully respected and environmental and social values are fully integrated.

The Forest Products Society is an international not-for-profit technical association founded in 1947 to provide an information network for all segments of the forest products industry. Learn more about the Society's history. Membership is open to all interested individuals and organizations.